Free-spool level-wind fish reel



March 27, 1928. J 1,663,801

J. KAUTZKY, JR

FREE SPOOL LEVEL WIND FISH REEL Original Filed July 19, 1924 jwumto o J01: KA zrrz 103.5

Patented Mar. 27, 1928.

Parana" crater-a :roE KAUTZKY," m OFFORTPLDODGE-IQWAJ FREE-SPOOL LEVEL -WINDi EIS'HI REEIL Original applicationi'filed luly 19," 1924; Serial 1m 727,075. Divid d;

, 1926... Serial No. 105,980. I

The subject matter of this applicationwas originally included inbut has been: divided from my application filed July 19,. 1924, Serial Number 727,075.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide improved means in.the traversing mechanism of a fishreel to insurepropen laying'of the-line onrthe reel winding-1n operation.

More specifically, the objectis to prevent,

- or minimize, the tendency at times of. the

line to pile up at onepointonthe. spool; par;-,

ticularly during the interim between the. initiationof the winding-in operation and the time when the line is engaged by the level? wind carriage.

A further; object is to provide a forward cross-bar for. the'reel which is formed. with aconcaved upper: marginwhereby an unf guided line. tends to traveltowardthe center of the frame because of a decided: declinefrom either end. to the center of the cross-bai-- and piling up of the unguidedline at..-either. end i ofthe spool: is prevented.

A1 furthen object-is to-provide an improvedconstruction for a traversing carriage of. a

. level-wind reel;

Another object of this-invention is to. provide an improvement. in level-w1nd1reelsin whichithe-hne carriage pawl 1sshapedto fit:

and conform to a.- V'-shapedigroove'on: the

l-inecarriagei shaft and is. thereby guided-in.-

its travel i along said groove, therebyfelim':

inating the tendency of said pawl .to: catch. on a poin'tand lock the device.

With these and other objects in View, my,'

invention consists in the construction, an

hereinafter" set forth, pointed out in the claims-and illustrated? by. the accompanying. drawing,in-whichp I Figure :1 is a frontlelevationof' a free? spool: level-wind reel constructed. according.

to-my invention. Figure 2 is a, detail. sectionfon'an enlarged-scale, on-the line. 212* of Figured; Figure-=3 is'a: fragmentary ele-r vation showing a portion of the doubly-- spiral-grooved line carriage sha-ftandpawl adapted: for travel therein," which may; be

used in'connectio'n with'my reel-.n Figure 4: is a detail section, on: an.enlarged.-scale, ,on-

In the constructionof thedevice-as shown a= skeletoncylindrica-l frame is provided, con? 1 sisting. primarily of spaced disks or. head:

in .the.

this application filed, May

tion andiareshown more or less..convention-- ally.. A..spool14is-. suitably journaled for rotation within the skeleton frame and is adapted to. receive afishingline, notisho'wn;

Aihandlc'rank15"isarranged1for rotation ad j acent. the heath plate 10, andfsuitableclutch connections. (not shown) are. provided. whereby then-eel 14.4. is rotated. rearwardly when said} crank is: turned forwardly, in a: common jman'ner; One form of such mechan sm is shown and described in my original application.aboverefrredfto, and it also ins chides means for positively producing the release of. the spooliwlien windingforce is removed from said crank, .Without reference to outward'travelIof the line from the spool, thus. leavingthe spool'and 'lineent irely free and unobstructed. and iproduc-ingno friction or drag inmaking aicastb Acarriage ,shaft. 16' islarranged' acro$ the front .of the device and journrild in; a hearing- 17 atone .endiandiin ahousing 18 at the opposite end,-.said bearing and liousingbeing.

mounted .on .the cylindrical: frame of the. reel andrbelng. connectedb'y. a ban 19" extending;

to. In the' present. instance the carriage shaft 1eisro 'mea with oppositely. inclined spiral .grooves:21...and .22 in. its periphery. exr tending. the major. portion. oflthe length of' the Shaft and' communicatingfwith each other at! each end, said." groove crossing each.

other at oblique. angles at. frequent inter! vals as shown; The comm inicating.tpor.-

tionsof thegrooves 21 and 22 preferably arev arranged on arcs and are shown at. one. end. of the sl-iaftv in s Eigureeg-and designated by. the numeral-i 23. A lewelewind carriage. 24-. is mounted.) on. the shaft?- 16 v and. is adapted fOIl rotary oscillation thereonito. a. limited degree. a and ralso for 'travel longitudinally. of. the shaft, inaucommonimannerv The. carsriage24is formed. witha fork or notch 25'at its free: end, which. end projects. upwardly when theicarriage'is inoperative-or. wind? ing position as shown in Figure 1 and by solid lines in Figure 2, with the fork or notch 25 projecting across the periphery of the arbor of the spool 14 and adapted to guide a line being wound thereon and lay said line in even or level. windings on said spool, as said carriage travels longitudinally of the shaft 16 and in'sliding contact'with ward side with a recess 26 opening to the bore by which said carriage is pivotally mounted on the shaft 16. The recess 26 is closed by means of a plate 27 held in place by a screw 28, and an elongated pawl 29 is mounted in said recess, enters one or another of the grooves 21, 22 or and is formedwvith a stem 30 projecting through said plate 27. Rotation of the shaft 16 causes the pawl to be moved lengthwise of the inclined grooves 21 and 22 and arcuate grooves 23, so'that the carriage is carried successively from one end to the other of said shaft as the pawl travels in the spiral grooves, and reverses its movement at eachv end of the shaft as the pawl passes through one or the other of the arcuate grooves 23 from'one spiral groove to the other. When the notch or fork 25 of the carriage is in engagement with a line being wound upon the spool 14, such movement of the carriage causes the line to be laid in even or level layers on the spool. According'to my improvement each of the spiral grooves 21 and 22 is formed at its bottom with a special track groove 31 which is angular, preferably substantially V-shaped in cross-section, and the lower face of the pawl 29 is formed to fit snugly within said angular groove as clearly shown in Figure 1, and is pressed into engagement therewith by means of a spring 32 wound on the stem 30 thereof and abutting the'top of. said pawl and-the under surface of the plate 27. Itis the function of the V-shaped spiral grooves, and the close fitting arrangement of the traveling pawl therein, to guide said pawl in its travel and cause it to continue in its proper course throughout the length of either of said spiral grooves and to overcome the tendency found in most devices of this character for the pawl, especially after the parts have become somewhat worn, to catch on one of the points caused or formed at the crossing of the spiral grooves and thus lock the carriage and prevent proper operation. The V- shaped port-ion of the grooves is omitted in the arcuate portions 23, thus permitting the pawl to turn through an arc in passing from one spiral groove to the other. In devices of this kind heretofore in use, dependence has been placed upon the outward move-- ment of the line from the spool, as in making a cast, to carry the carriage forward to the position indicated by dotted lines in Figure 2, so that the line is freed from the notch or fork of said carriage. This necessarily caused some drag or hesitation in the travel of the. line, and I have provided means for overcoming this'difiiculty. In my parent application above referred to there is a means for producing a backward snap action when winding force is released, for the release of the free-spool mechanism, which is also communicated to the shaft 16 by the gear 20. Pressure of the spring 32 also serves, in addition to the function hereinbefore mentioned, to produce a frictional contact 'between the shaft 16 and the carriage 241 so that said carriage is carried forwardly to releasing position when said shaft is snapped rearwardly, forward movement of said carriage being limited by contact of its base with the cross-bar 12. Similarly, the friction produced by the spring 32 acts to move said carriage rearwardly and upwardly to operative engagement with the line when the crank is turned to wind the line on the spool, the shaft 16 then being rotated to cause back and forth travel of the carriage as already indicated.- 1

In the present invention I have provided means to prevent, or at least greatly reduce, the tendency at times of the'line to pile up at one point-on the spool, during the interim between the beginning of the winding operation and the time when the line is engaged by the carriage 24 and received within the notch itself. It sometimes occurs that the winding-in operation starts just as the car riage is beginning its return trip from that end of the-spool near the head or disk 11 and the line is near that end, in which event it will be necessary, in-case the line misses the notch 25, for the carriage to make a complete round trip beforethe line is engaged. Considering the manner in which 7 these mechanisms are usually geared, this may mean that as many as twenty-two strands of the line will be laid on the spool near one end thereof, which is a very objectionable piling up and seriously interferes with the level-wind function. To partially over'coine thisI have shown the forward cross-bar 12 as formed with an arcuate upper margin as clearly shown in Figure 1, of concave form, so that the tendency of the line being wound in, when not engaged by the carriage, is to travel down the inclined or curved face of the bar toward the center of the spool, thus spreading the unguided winding of the line over approximately one-half the length of the spool, and also causing thecarriage to:

I pick up the line at about the middle of the spool rather than when it has returned to a point near the end.

To further overcome this objectionable tendency, I have made the carriageQt considerably wider than is commonly done and .can overcome,'or at least minimize, the

tendency of the unguided line to pile up on the spool. By making the end portions of the bar 12 higher than the end of the carriage, there is a tendency for the unguided line to drop into the notch.25 after it has been pushed to the end of the cross bar.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a fishing reel, a frame formed with cross-bars, the forward cross-bar having its upper margin concaved substantially throughout its length, whereby an unguided line engaging said bar at any point substantially removed from its center tends to travel toward the longitudinal center of the frame.

2. In a fishing reel, a frame formed with cross-bars, the forward cross bar being formed with a concaved arcuate upper margin substantially from end to end, a line carriage mounted for reciprocation in front of the forward cross-bar, said carriage hav-.

ing its side margins converging toward its upper end.

3. In a fishing reel, a frame having a for ward cross-bar formed with aconcaved arcuate upper margin, a line carriage mounted for reciprocation in front of said cross-bar, said carriage having its side margins tapering upwardly on oblique angles from substantially the horizontal plane of the lowest point of said cross-bar, the end portions of said cross-bar rising materially above t-h upper end of saidcarriage.

4. In a fishing reel, a frame, winding mechanism, a carriageshaft journaled in said frame andconnected. with said winding mechanism, a level-wind carriage mounted for reciprocatory movement on said shaft, said shaft being formed with oppositely arranged spiral grooves, said grooves having portions which are substantially V-shaped in cross-section, a pawl pivotally mounted in said carriage and adapted to travel in said grooves, said pawl having its lower face substantially V-shaped in cross-section to engage in the V-shaped grooves and guide said pawl in its travel.

5. In a fishing reel, a frame, winding mechanism, a carriage shaft journaled in said frame and connected with said winding mechanism, a level-wind carriage mounted for reciprocatory movement on said shaft, said shaft being formed with oppositely arranged spiral grooves, said grooves having portions which are substantially V-shaped in cross-section, a pawl pivotally mounted in said carriage and adapted to travel in said groove, said pawl having its lower face substantially V-shapedin cross-section to engage in the V-shaped grooves and guide said pawl in its travel, and yielding pressure device engaging said pawl and holding it to a seat in said grooves.

6. In a fishing reel, a frame, winding mechanism, a carriage shaft journaled in said frame and connected with said winding mechanism, a level-wind carriage mounted for reciprocatory movement on said shaft,

said shaft being formed with oppositely arranged spiral grooves connected at their ends by arcuate grooves, each of said spiral grooves being provided with an annular track groove at its bottom, and a pawl pivotally mounted in said carriage and adapted to travel in said grooves,'said' pawl having its bottom shaped to fit snugly in said track grooves, the track grooves being omitted in 'the connecting arcuate grooves to permit turning of said pawl.

7. In a fishing reel, a frame having a forward cross-bar formed with a concaved arcuate upper margin, a line carriage mounted for reciprocation in front of said cross-' bar and having a notch in its upper end, the body of said carriage having a width at least twice as great as the Width of said notch, the side margins of said carriagebeing formed on inclined lines in thelr upper portions and arranged at abrupt angles to a horizontal plane to substantiallythe outer end of. said notch, whereby they engage an.

unguided line and ,start to distribute it evenly at an early point in the travel'of said carriage. Y

8. In a fishing reel, a frame having a for- Wardcross-bar Which has its upper margin concaved substantially throughout its length,

' a line carriage mounted for reciprocationin front of said crossbar, said carriage having its side margins tapering upwardly on oblique lines from substantially the horizontal plane of the lowest point of said cross-bar, the end portions of said cross-bar rising materially above the upper end of 7 said carriage.

JOE KAUTZKY, JR. 

